Beth C. Rubin, associate professor of Education at Rutgers University, investigates how young people develop, both as learners and as citizens, amid the interwoven contexts of classroom, school, and community. In her current work she designs and studies curricular and pedagogical innovations that attend to the complexities of youth civic learning at the intersection of classroom practices and larger social inequalities. Recent publications include “Realizing the Equity-Minded Aspirations of Detracking and Inclusion: Toward a Capacity-Oriented Framework for Teacher Education (with T. R. Abu El-Haj, 2009) in Curriculum Inquiry, “Detracking in Context: How Local Constructions of Ability Complicate Equity-Geared Reform” (2008) in Teachers College Record, and “‘There’s Still Not Justice’: Youth Civic Identity Development amid Distinct School and Community Contexts” (2007) in Teachers College Record. She teaches courses in urban education, social studies education, and qualitative research methods, and she is co-founder of the urban education program at Rutgers’ Graduate School of Education.

Brian F. Hayes, a former high school educator and administrator and currently a doctoral student at the Rutgers Graduate School of Education, is interested in the intersection of education and the larger public policy arena. He has a passionate interest in improving the quality of social studies instruction in schools and engaging students in the political process around issues of pertinent concern. Recent publications include “Professional Development for Instruction and Student Learning? A New State Policy for Administrators” (with W. A. Firestone, M. N. Robinson, and C. Shalaby, 2008) in Leadership and Policy in Schools and “‘It’s the Worst Place to Live’: Urban Youth and the Challenge of School-Based Civic Learning” (with B. C. Rubin and K. Benson, 2009) in Theory into Practice. Brian currently works as a program officer in the division of School-University Partnerships at the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation in Princeton, New Jersey.